"strong duel tale"
Turner has not had an easy life. Fresh off the plane from
Vietnam, with images of atrocities churning in his head, he
signs up to become a Memphis police officer. His was not a
sterling career but he ended it spectacularly when he
killed his partner and was sentenced to three years in
jail. Two months before he was to get out, he killed a man
in self-defense and was sentenced to another twenty-five
years. After spending more than a dozen years in prison, always
looking over his shoulder for the next attack, he finally
got out and set up practice as a psychotherapist. When he
got tired of the rat race he moved to a small Tennessee
town, fully intending to live a solitary life. His
isolation doesn't last long before the local sheriff
consults with him on a homicide case. Unable to refuse,
Turner gets sucked into an investigation where small time
politics and a movie fan's desire to meet his idol
collides, killing a mentally impaired innocent who wouldn't
hurt a grasshopper. CYPRESS GROVE is really two stories that form a whole
tale. In alternating chapters, readers get to see how a
small town murder unfolds and why Turner ended up in the
town where the homicide occurs. By only using the surname
Turner and not revealing the location of the town, James
Sallis dehumanizes the man and town so that readers are
forced to use their imagination to fill in the blanks. The
mystery is well constructed and believable but it is
Turner's story that touches the heart of the reader. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted May 8, 2003
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